Senior stakeholder managers have to use new technology. Are you making these common mistakes?

Relying on one channel of communication is not advisable for senior managers. The ultimate goal of effective communication is to ensure that parties involved have a common understanding of the message. While I favour written communication because of its sense of formality and ease of reference, it it vital to combine such communication with other channels. This could be a one-one-one discussion or following-up the written communication with a phone call. Utilising additional channels allows parties to clarify grey areas and remove barriers to communication that my exist. For this reason, I would recommend the use of multiple communication channels in the workplace.

I've found it helpful to follow the communication strategy like any training instructor would do when they run a training. 1. Tell them what you are going to tell: send out a meeting invite with a clear agenda, obviously not everyone will attend and some stakeholders will delegate someone else 2. Tell them: The meeting is the forum of communication, raising questions, clarifying ambiguity 3. Tell them what they've been told: Follow up meeting notes turned into a knowledge article, published to a project page or Wiki page depending on the size of the audience. Knowledge Article or decision log is much easier to reference later than an email or a meeting. ...yes, those who don't like big meetings still can contribute to the follow-up.

Common Mistakes can be: 1) Not understanding Power/Influence , Interest matrix in organization. This classic matrix will help in understanding the right audience with authority & interest in the project. 2) Not having clear data driven matrixes to strengthen your engagement with senior leadership. 3) Not having human touch in your connect with Senior leadership can deeply harm the engagement.

La gestion du changement est un point essentiel à prendre en compte par les parties prenantes. Le feedback et l'inspection lors du developpement de produits doivent se faire tot pour pouvoir s'adapter plus rapidement et avoir des solutions de haute qualité. Pour cela, il faut adopter des processus de developpement flexibles, courts et itératifs.

This is a classic example of - 'know your audience'. The use of multi-channel is a discipline I've deployed in communication with stakeholders for some time. There's simple to use methods such as a Group WhatsApp chat or more elaborate ones, which are readily available. The consideration is multi faceted but always remember - don't over complicate things. Keep it simple but effective ??. Ask for feedback from the recipients and remain open minded and flexible.

A prevalent yet significant error made by senior management is permitting shadow IT. When individuals with limited or incomplete understanding begin making tech decisions or launching initiatives, it poses risks, as can easily get manipulated or mislead, leading to improper implementations and failing to realize the true value or potential of investments. It's crucial to trust and heed the advice of experts and allow them to execute their responsibilities effectively.

In the era of Zero Trust Architecture it is imperative to design and implement policies that are robust based on your organisational needs but ultimately adhere to the high standards set across the industry. At the same time balancing the policies set for you by an outside agency via a full risk analysis with your internal teams and stakeholders.

In my experience UX starts very early in the cycle rather than an after-thought or retrofit. At the end of the day if your user experience is broken then everything else starts to drag too. Collaborating with diverse teams and individuals within your organization helps make your UX flexible. Nothing beats "eating at your own restaurant" principle. If the UX doesn't serve your internal user's need it is highly unlikely to serve any of your actual external Users.

The success of every good/service ultimately depends on the problem it is solving and the user experience. If the product solves an important problem but the technology/app/website is tedious to use or heavy in its architecture, it will simply dissuade the user from using it and looking for alternatives. It is essential to step into the shoes of the user/consumer and understand the bottlenecks and complexities arising as a result of using the tech/app/website.

In addition to the suggestions made by others here, a practical buy-in strategy, such as developing and relying on champions, is also beneficial to successful change management in this context. A practical "train the trainer" approach can help get stakeholders actively engaged and encourages timely improvements to a roll-out, both before the go-live and for continual improvement thereafter. Include time to run a pilot with a representative group of key stakeholders and SMEs (ending in a "soft launch"), and adapt the roll-out according to their feedback. Then support them as they transfer knowledge to their teams. This approach supports addressing items 1,3,4, & 5 on this list.

In addition to the points rightly noted above around timely communication and having a business case, what also is indispensable is a plan towards change adoption. Streamlining change, be it a new technology, platform or process, is difficult, and especially at an enterprise scale. What many leaders use globally as a plan for faster change adoption is a 2 phase approach. First define and propagate the benefits of adopting the change. In the later phase, attaching either implications of not adopting the change, or cutting down on critical advantages.

In my experience, trust is built is by engaging the stakeholders throughout the planning, design, and implementation process, by clearly and regularly communicating the progress, challenges, and outcome of tech changes promoting transparency, and tracking the impact of tech changes on stakeholder management objectives and performances helps to identify area of success.

Change management can be compared to swapping out your tyres while driving the vehicle and without crashing or stalling. This requires careful consideration against pressing time and resource constraints.

There is no replacement for the human touch - especially none that technology can replace. Stakeholder engagement, in its most basic sense, is nothing but creating, maintaining, and servicing human relations for a professional/organizational purpose and ensuring that it is a win-win situation for all parties involved. This process is never one-size-fits-all and has to be tailored for every stakeholder and time.

Remember to factor in the "technology diffusion" curve your assessments and planning. Always start with articulating the "why" of what you are doing and build via consensus.

Context of the question is important. Am I answering this question as a Senior Manager who’s driving the tech adoption? If it is, then rule of thumb is for each and every person in my team to experience it themselves, provide feedback and be 100% convinced that it does help them and provide a written testament how it did. If I were the Senior Manager on the receiving end, then that’s my green light as to whether to try the technology or not.

Strong relationships within the team foster trust, collaboration, and mutual support. As a leader, I prioritize team building activities i.e) team outings, group discussions, or even virtual coffee chats, to strengthen bonds and cultivate a positive team culture. Investing time and effort into getting to know each team member on a personal level helps create a sense of belonging and camaraderie, which in turn enhances team cohesion and productivity. Building rapport with senior stakeholders is essential for gaining their trust and support. Regular checks, updates, and proactive communication help maintain strong relationships and ensure alignment between the team's efforts and organizational goals.

Recognising the potential risks associated with knowledge concentration among a select few individuals is crucial. If these key individuals decide to leave, the organisation may face significant challenges. To mitigate this risk effectively, it's essential to implement ongoing coaching, mentoring, training, and knowledge-sharing initiatives throughout the project. Not only does this approach minimize the risk of knowledge loss, but it also enhances stakeholder buy-in and support. Additionally, fostering a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing increases the likelihood of identifying optimal ways to leverage new technologies or systems for improved efficiency and effectiveness.